Headship and Equality of Man and Woman

Studies in 1 Corinthians Series [25]1 Corinthians 11:2-16

January 11, 2015Pastor Paul K. Kim

KEY ISSUES IN UNDERSTANDING THE TIMELESS MESSAGE OF THIS

PASSAGE A prerequisite: It requires an approach to Scripture

(including the apostle Paul’s letters] as the supreme and final authority of our faith and conduct, seeking Scriptural guidance on this delicate issue.

• Head Covering: It was a cultural practice that communicated modesty, submission to, and honor of her husband or father.

• Headship: This is the principle that the apostle Paul underpins here as a God-designed universal principle of gender roles.

• Equality & Complementarity: These are the two implications of headship concerning gender roles that we must apply into our own cultural context.

HEADSHIP AND EQUALITY: TWO TIMELESS PRINCIPLES OF GENDER

ROLES1) The underlying issue of head covering is about

HEADSHIP OF MAN AND EQUALITY OF WOMAN.4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered

dishonors his head, 5 but every wife who prays or prophesies with

her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her

head were shaven. 6 For if a wife will not cover her head, then she

should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut

off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head. 7 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and

glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. (vs. 4-7)

Two views on head [Gk. kephalé] are: (1) “source” (egalitarian view) and (2) “authority” (complementarian view).

Man and woman are equal in worth but different in roles—i.e., equality is NOT sameness; difference is NOT inferiority.

So, acknowledge man’s leadership AND woman’s equality.

“Thank you God for not making me a gentile, a woman, or a slave.”

A Daily Prayer in Talmud 

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female,

for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:28

 

HEADSHIP AND EQUALITY: TWO TIMELESS PRINCIPLES OF GENDER

ROLES2) Headship and equality in gender roles are

rooted in TRINITARIAN COMPLEMENTARITY/EQUALITY AND THE CREATION.

2 Now I commend you because you remember me in everything

and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 3 But I want

you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is

her husband, and the head of Christ is God . . . 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was

man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol

of authority on her head, because of the angels. (vs. 2-3, 8-10)

Male headship is rooted in God the Father’s headship over Jesus the Son in equality and yet with complementary roles.

Male headship is also designed—before the Fall of Adam and Eve—in the creation of man and woman in God’s wise plan.

We are to follow the example of headship and equality in Christ’s relationship with God out of love and willingness.

 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head

to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled

upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected,

and near his heart to be beloved. Matthew Henry

 

HEADSHIP AND EQUALITY: TWO TIMELESS PRINCIPLES OF GENDER

ROLES3) Headship and equality in gender roles are also

upheld by INTERDEPENDENCE, NATURE, AND APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY.

11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor

man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now

born of woman. And all things are from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: is it

proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not

nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him,

15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to

her for a covering. 16 If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we

have no such practice, nor do the churches of God. (vs. 11-16)

Differences in roles do NOT mean superiority or inferiority but complementarity that calls for synergistic interdependence.

The nature in the length of hair need not to be biological but what it means to be feminine and masculine in each culture.

Paul’s apostolic charge is to honor the headship in humility.

HEADSHIP AND EQUALITY: TWO TIMELESS PRINCIPLES OF GENDER

ROLES4) RECAP & CONCLUSIONS: Man and woman are

EQUAL in worth and DIFFERENT in roles—uphold both equality and headship.

Uphold the EQUALITY of man and woman in all ways.

Embrace the HEADSHIP—honor man’s complementary role not out of obligation but out of your love; take your responsibility of leadership not to control but to empower her.

Pursue synergistic INTERDEPENDENCE, acknowledging your need for one another’s complementary roles in full equality.

In applying equality and headship in today’s world, seek guidance not from the culture but from SCRIPTURE with a priori submission to its supreme and final authority.

• Uphold Both Equality and Headship• So far we have looked at the two opposite

viewpoints on relationships between men and women. On the one hand, there are those who affirm masculine headship (rightly, in my view), but do it so strongly as to seem to deny the full equality of the sexes. On the other hand, there are those who deny headship, in order to affirm (rightly, in my view) the equality of the sexes. But as I have tried to show, all attempts to get rid of Paul’s teaching on headship (on the grounds that it is mistaken, confusing, culture-bound or culture-specific) must be pronounced unsuccessful. It remains stubbornly there. It is in divine revelation, not human opinion, and in divine creation, not human culture. In essence, therefore, it must be preserved as having permanent and universal authority.

• — John R. W. Stott•

THREE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE

1. In what ways are you more convinced of your own need for seeking guidance not from the culture but from Scripture concerning gender roles?

2. What would it mean for you to uphold the equality of man and woman in all ways? What is your first step?

3. What would it mean for you to honor/embrace the headship? What is your first step?